People, Etc.: 'Anchorman' falls short of No. 1

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy in a scene from "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues." (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Gemma LaMana)ERIE TIMES-NEWS

December 24, 2013 12:02 AM

The highly anticipated, hotly promoted "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" fell significantly short of its box-office expectations, failing to wrest the No. 1 spot from Warner Bros.' "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," which pulled in an additional $31.5 million.

The sequel to 2004's comedy cult classic "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," which stars Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and Christina Applegate, was expected to generate between $30 million and $35 million over Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but instead came in at an estimated $26.8 million.

Disney's "Saving Mr. Banks," which also opened in wide release this weekend, claimed the No. 5 spot with $9.3 million.

Cruise, publisher

settle lawsuit

In a statement, the publishing company of two tabloid magazines said they never intended to imply that Tom Cruise had cut all ties to his daughter after his divorce and announced last week that it had reached a settlement with the actor over two stories it published.

Cruise sued Bauer Media Group over stories published in its Life & Style and In Touch magazines in 2012 that claimed the actor hadn't been in contact with his daughter for several weeks after his divorce from actress Katie Holmes. The actor sued the publishing company in October 2012 seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

DeGeneres pushes

for 'Bridesmaids 2'

Ellen DeGeneres wants to be in "Bridesmaids 2."

The returning Oscar host says she's working with "Bridesmaids" director Paul Feig to promote the Academy Awards because she's angling for a part in the "Bridesmaids" sequel, even though no such film has been announced.

In a video released late Thursday by the film academy, the 55-year-old funny woman says: "Two plus two: great Oscar promo, 'Bridesmaids 2,' cha-ching!"

Feig has demurred about a "Bridemaids" sequel since the movie's groundbreaking success in 2011. The director's most recent film, summer's "The Heat" with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, also blasted box office expectations and inspired rumors of a sequel.

Casey Kasem

settlement reached

Casey Kasem's wife and one of his daughters have reached a settlement that ends a bid to place the ailing radio personality in a conservatorship.

Details of the agreement between Kasem's wife, Jean, and his daughter Julie Kasem were not divulged in a Los Angeles court where the settlement was announced Friday.

Julie Kasem had been seeking a conservatorship and has said she and her siblings have been blocked from seeing their father, who is suffering from advanced Parkinson's disease.

The lawyer for another of Kasem's daughters, Kerri, said she may have to file a petition to see her 81-year-old father without certain restrictions.

Van Zandt will

miss Mandela

Steven Van Zandt said his first thought when he heard Nelson Mandela had died "was a selfish one."

Van Zandt, guitarist in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, said he'd hoped Mandela would be able to attend one of the band's South African shows next month.

He said the trip will be the "first time I'll be back since my research of '84." That research led him to spearhead a cultural boycott of South Africa, forming Artists United Against Apartheid. Van Zandt released the protest song "Sun City" in 1985 that included influential musicians such as Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Miles Davis.

Van Zandt said he met Mandela twice, including at a U.S. reception Van Zandt hosted in 1990.

"When I met him, I'd never felt this before or since -- I felt like I was meeting a religious figure," the guitarist said. "I mean like Buddha, Jesus, John the Baptist. He had that kind of vibe."

Usher: Bieber

just growing up

Usher says although Justin Bieber had a wild year, people shouldn't count the pop singer out.

"I mean more money, more problems," the R&B singer said in an interview at the premiere of "Justin Bieber Believe" in Los Angeles. "The beautiful part about it is that those that are invested in a long-term story you understand that there are peaks and valleys in every person's life. Unfortunately the reality is he has to live with a camera in front of him, but what he chooses to do on or off camera is analyzed or scrutinized in some off way."

Earlier this year Bieber was caught on camera clashing with a paparazzo. While touring, the pop star fainted backstage at a London show and had to be taken to a hospital. These incidents came after photos of Bieber appearing to smoke marijuana hit the Web. He also had to apologize by phone to Bill Clinton, for cursing the former president and spraying his photo with cleaning fluid in a New York City restaurant kitchen.